Tuesday, 4 December 2007

Walking and Metro Rail

According to a recent study by the Brookings Institution, Pittsburgh is one of the 10 most "Walkable" Cities in America, ranking one spot ahead of New York. Good news, and something that I'm sure will be helped by the recent addition of the walking/biking path over the Hot Metal Bridge.

According to the study, of the 10 cities in the top 10, all but Seattle are served by some sort of Metropolitan rail systems. Also of the top 10, 5 of the 10 have "full" rail transit systems, and Pittsburgh is listed as having a "starter" syetem.

Give it a read, it's a great article on how good transport makes more livable cities, and good transport breeds new development. If you're interested, you could also check out the full study.

1 comment:

I ran the HMB over the weekend. It was fun--got to see a barge pass underneath. It makes walking to the South Side Works very convenient. Much more so than Shadyside, for example.

Interesting side note: at the end of the bridge at the road to the Steelers were a man and a woman with Steeler helmets clearing seeking autographs. They seemed to have gathered a number of signatures. I said, "You seem to be doing pretty well." The man said, "Naw they don't like signing much. We been here two days." Also, he had less than 50% of his teeth remaining. This is why Steeler fans are the best.